Student Senate members said their goodbyes Wednesday, while new senate members said their hellos.

With the fall elections, every person who ran got a spot.

A total of 152 people voted, with 63 voting in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and 89 voting in Coleman Hall.

Ashlei Birch, student executive officer of elections, said voting went well for the most part.

“One person voted twice, so their vote didn’t count,” Birch said. “Maybe they didn’t understand or they could have done it on purpose.”

At press time, the new Student Senate speaker was not announced.

The two people running were Drew Griffin, chair of the external relations committee, and Student Senate member Paul Reid.

Also at the meeting, both Student Body President Levi Bulgar and Student Senate Speaker Isaac Sandidge gave speeches. Bulgar gave the State of the University report and Sandidge gave the State of the Senate report.

“Bulgar talks about basic things going on in the university, while Isaac talks about pros and cons of the senate,” said Mike Hilty, chair of the shuttle bus committee. “It is his last real duty as speaker.”

Bulgar talked about the Doudna Fine Arts Center rededication ceremony and the Mavis Staples concert.

“I don’t think I will be the last to shed a tear in that hall,” Bulgar said.

He also mentioned how ground was broken for the new textbook rental, which will open in December 2009.

He spoke about the election of Barack Obama as well.

“We got to see an African American in the highest office position for the first time,” Bulgar said.

He also mentioned the $700 billion bailout and the struggling economy.

Sandidge spoke about the Student Senate this semester.

He said this semester the senate had been privileged with variety because he had never seen, in his seven semesters at Eastern, 25 open senate seats in an election.

Also at the meeting, appropriations for University Board were approved.

The senate approved $4,500 for UB Special Events, $10,460 for UB Mainstage, $4,500 for UB Comedy, $5,235 for UB Productions and $2,350 for UB Homecoming.

Also, a line-item transfer moving $300 from student payroll to copy service was passed at the meeting.

This was tabled at last week’s meeting.

Three more events for UB Special Events, which AB passed, got tabled at the meeting as well.

The costs for the events are $8,275 for “Up All Nite: Casino Royale,” $3,200 for “UB Rush Hour Lucky Charm” and $9,025 for “Spring Fling Wild Safari.”

These items will be voted on next semester.

“I think they will be very receptive to the ideas University Board has, especially for Chuck Vegas,” said Otis Seawood, Jr., UB special events coordinator. “Also, I am going to be presenting decoration ideas in the form of a catalogue for this event. I will let Student Senate members pass it around and ask me a couple questions.”

Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or haholm@eiu.edu.

Student Body President Levi Bulgar gives his State of the University address during the Student Senate meeting on Wednesday night. He also covered a variety of topics including the completion of the Doudna Fine Arts Center, the presidential election and t

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